Tuesday, April 25, 2017

To this day, Israel sanctifies the massacre and displacement
of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in what it calls its war of
independence in 1948. The indigenous residents of Palestine were pushed into
refugee camps all across Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Gaza. Israel actually brags
to its own people about reclaiming the gift from God to the Jews.

Then, two decades later, Israel launched a surprise attack
on its neighbors and gained what it calls “the liberation of Judea, Samaria and
the Golan Heights.” Yet, what it calls a “liberation” was actually the occupation
of the land, labor and resources of a weaker and mostly unarmed people. Israel celebrates five decades of demolishing
homes, stealing water, erecting hundreds of checkpoints, putting Palestinians,
including children, in Israeli prisons, building a wall through the West Bank
separating kids from their schools, farmers from their fields and the sick and
wounded from their hospitals. Israel’s Six Day War also built an effective apartheid
system.

Meretz chairperson of Zehava Galon said the celebration is
of a massive human rights violation:

Israel has controlled millions of
people for 50 years, treads on them every day anew and denies them rights and
sovereignty.

And, that’s not the worst of it. Haaretz notes:

The 1967 war led to the growth of
unbridled national arrogance, which exacted an awful price in blood over the
past 50 years and turned the military victory into a moral defeat. In
retrospect, it should be called the 50-Year War, and judging by the political
situation, its life expectancy appears endless.[1]

This fifty years of oppression should be a source of shame, not
a reason for celebration.

However, Israel does have cause to celebrate. It has over powered
its non-Jewish citizens and neighbors for half a century and at the same time
convinced the world, especially the United States, that all this time it has
been the victim. Now, that is quite an accomplishment.

And Donald Trump grins in a total fog.

Thomas Are

April 25, 2017

[1] Both of
these quotes come from Israel Will
Celebrate 50th Anniversary of ’67 War in – an Illegal Settlement, Mondoweiss, April 17, 2017

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Did you hear what he said? I did. The Secretary State not
only said it on national television, it was repeated in leading newspapers all
around the world. Rex Tillerson, said:

We rededicate ourselves to holding
to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocent anywhere in the
world.

Look out Israel. You must be on the top of his list. And
America, too for that matter, for our crimes against the innocent children of
Palestine. Even though I have never seen
one shred of evidence that Tillerson gives a hoot for the children of the West
Bank and Gaza, his noble proclamation of having a heart reveals only that he either
knows nothing about Israel’s brutality or he hopes that you don’t know or care.

Donald Trump speaks so passionately about the 100 children gassed by Syria, saying, “No child of God
should ever suffer such horror.” Yet he has
no word of sympathy for the 550 children blown up in Gaza in 2014 by Israeli
pilots flying planes supplied by the US., nor do we hear any remorse for the
“beautiful children” burned to death by white phosphorus exploding over their
heads like a fireworks star-burst at a ball game. He has nothing but praise for
his favorite son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose claim to fame is that Benjamin Netanyahu
once slept in his bed, when he donates tens of thousands of dollars to displace
Palestinian children and their families to make room for Jewish only
settlements in the West Bank. I guess only children who get out of Israel’s way
are “beautiful.”

Sean Spicer said, “Any attack on innocent people is
reprehensible and inexcusable.” Of
course he is right, but he obviously does not have in mind all innocent people.

Tzipi Livni , considered to be among the most liberal
members of Israel’s Knesset, said that the attack on Gaza in 2008-9 was
necessary and important. When Hamas
fires those unguided home-made missiles into Israel, we just “go wild.”[i] And what happens to the
“beautiful” children of Gaza is hard to believe. Their homes, schools, hospitals, food and
water supplies are considered “enemy bases,” and blown up, without a
thought. Chief of Staff, Gadi Eizonkot
said, “They are all just collateral damage.”
According to Justice Minister Ayelet Sheked, “All these children are
just little snakes anyway. Elie Wiesel
explained that when 550 children in Gaza were killed it is only because Hamas
chose to sacrifice them.”[ii]

Trump is right when he says, “No child of God should ever
suffer such horror.” He is wrong in excluding Palestinian children from his focus
of concern.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Donald Trump has such little credibility that even Israel to
whom Trump has sworn undying support and allegiance is saying, no thanks, we
prefer to go it alone. It’s easy to understand why.

As reported on Morning Joe,[1] Trump is underwater in
trying to get anything done whether overseas or at home. The world reads these
numbers. Our enemies rejoice and our friends tremble.

Gallup Poll has Trump at Approval
39% Disapprove 55%

IBD TIPP Poll Approval
34% Disapprove 56%

Quinnipiac University Poll

Trumps
Overall Approval Rating Approve 35% Disapprove
57%

Health
Care 28% 64%

Immigration
Issues 39% 57%

Economy 41% 48%

Environmental
Policy 29% 61%

Foreign
Policy 33% 58%

Terrorism 42% 49%

And why is Trump’s credibility so low?

Too many wishy-washy episodes like his dealing with
Syria. Today, Trump “calls on all civilized nations to join the U.S. in seeking
an end to the slaughter in Syria. However, he hopes you have forgotten that in 2013,
when Syria used chemical gas against its rebel citizens, Trump lambasted Obama
for wanting to get involved saying:

Syria is
not our problem
We should stay the hell out of
Syria. What will we get for our lives and $ billions? ZERO
What will we get for bombing
Syria besides more debt and a long term conflict

If Obama attacks Syria and innocent
citizens are killed, he and US will look very bad.

What I am saying is stay out of Syria

At least three time in May, 2013, he
said, Do NOT attack Syria.

“Forget Syria.” Over
and over again Trump announced his total opposition to any US involvement in
Syria. Yet, today, he looks at the
horrendous Assad attack on unarmed men, women and children and Trump has the
audacity to put the blame on Obama because he did not send troops into Syria four
years ago. Bottom line:

Yet, nothing boosts a president’s ratings so much as a
war and he knows it.

Wait a minute, some reader is thinking about now; I
thought this was a blog about Israel/Palestine, and you are right. So, let’s
get to the point.

In February, Trump asked Benjamin Netanyahu to “hold off
on settlement building.” He was speaking as the president of the United States,
the number one backer and financier of Israel. But, Netanyahu reads the numbers
on Trump and says the heck with him, he has no clout. So, Israel continues with
its settlement building, apartheid laws, ethnic cleansing, brutal occupation,
check points, walls, barbaric treatment of Palestinians, putting children in
Israeli prisons, stealing water and thumbing its nose at human rights…and
Donald Trump.

Thomas L. Are

I preached for forty three years in the Presbyterian Church before retiring. If anyone would ever refer to me as a Liberation Theologian, I would be pleased. I started blogging several years ago to express my political and religious concern for justice, especially justice for the Palestinians.